Kids First seeks summer volunteers

Published 3:30 pm, Sunday, June 3, 2012

Centers for Children and Families seeks volunteers willing to provide non-custodial parents the ability to continue fostering relationships with their kids.

Through its Kids First program, Centers uses staff and volunteers to create environments for supervised visitation that allow parents who don't have custody rights to still spend time with their children.

"The sessions are provided for the children. No matter what a parent has done, that person is still somebody's mom or dad," said Carol Taylor, parent education director who runs the Kids First program. "An approved volunteer observer must be present for the child to be able to see their non-custodial parent."

Once enrolled in the program, parents can spend Thursday nights or Saturday mornings talking, playing games, doing arts and crafts or participating in some other activity with their children. Kids First also provides exchange services for parents with shared custody. A mom or dad can drop off their child, and then Kids First volunteers will ensure they're safely picked up by the other parent.

Each Midland family is assigned a classroom at Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity, and a volunteer is tasked with observing the group. Visits also occur in Odessa.

Volunteers are required to make the visits possible.

Volunteer coordinator Fran Billingsley said the court system continues to send Centers new families for the program, which is part of why there's such a great need for volunteers.

Visitation sessions last two hours, and volunteers are asked to sit and observe the visit. A video camera is set up, and volunteers take notes. Training is provided to every volunteer.

Billingsley said some of the volunteers find the job difficult because of the situations the families are in. However, she said Centers' staff see it as a positive that the non-custodial parents are at least able to continue some relationship with their kids by being involved in the program.

Some parents are assigned to the program, while other parents volunteer to take part.

"No matter what has happened in the family, that's still that child's parent," said Ann Bradford, executive director at Centers, said previously. "They still love them and want a relationship."

Typically, the families involved in Kids First face issues that stem from divorce, domestic violence, anger issues, substance abuse or a recent release from prison, among other things, according to Centers.

Volunteers don't know the specific details of the family to which they're assigned and are asked only to observe the two-hour visit.

Some families will stay with Kids First for years, while others will graduate to supervised exchanges or even independent visitation after a few months in the program.

Kathleen Petty can be reached at kpetty@mrt.com.

Want to volunteer?

Call 570-1084 or email fbillingsley@centerswesttexas.org.

Volunteers must be 18 years or older and must pass a background check.